SFGATE: THINK about Tribal Casino Expansion before Acting

The SFGATE website of the San Francisco Chronicle also come out against gaming expansion.  

THINK before we act on giving tribes casinos away from their reservations.    IS it TIME to expand gaming to the state?

The Enterprise Rancheria>

should not be rewarded for violating the rights of their people.


Read more here

LA TIMES EDITORIAL: A Bad Bet on Indian Casinos SAY NO GOVERNOR BROWN!

Indian gambling has brought long-needed financial gains to Native American tribes as well as a measure of painful internal strife. In California, reservations where dilapidated mobile homes once dominated the landscape are now dotted with attractive new housing developments, playgrounds, and community, health and fitness centers. At the same time, according to academics and other experts on tribal affairs, gambling wealth has given new impetus to the disenrollment of thousands of California's Native Americans from their tribes by others who want to maximize their share of the money.    OP:  Picayune Rancheria is the worst offender, followed by Pechanga, Pala, Redding, 

Now, two casino proposals could open the door to a new era of Indian gaming in the state. Two tribes located on difficult-to-reach reservations have received federal approval to operate hotels and casinos on land miles away, which would make these the state's first Indian casinos located off existing reservations. The North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians wants to build along a freeway outside Madera, and the Enterprise Rancheria of Estom Yumeka Maidu Tribe would place its casino near Marysville. Now it's up to Gov. Jerry Brown to decide the matter, which he must do by the end of the month.  OP:  Enterprise Rancheria DOES NOT deserve a casino for violating the civil and human rights of their people.

This represents a bad precedent for gambling growth in the state. Brown should reject both proposals and hold a firm line on tribes' efforts to build off their reservations, especially when such casinos would be located in or near more populated areas. And changes in federal law are warranted to deter this from happening again.

California voters have made their views on gambling clear. In 2000, they approved Proposition 1A to allow tribes to set up Las Vegas-style gambling on "Indian land." Four years later, despite a $60-million campaign funded by gambling interests, voters rejected two initiatives to expand gaming in the state. One would have allowed slot machines in urban card casinos and at racetracks; the other would have lifted some restrictions on Indian casinos. In other words, voters liked gambling but preferred that it be contained. They wanted to empower tribal governments to lift their people out of poverty and make key decisions on their sovereign lands, which tend to be remotely located, but did not want to see the state's cities and suburbs subjected to Las Vegas-style creep. At this point, there are more than 65 casinos among the state's 109 recognized tribes. Many tribes have no casinos, but a handful have more than one.

The question is, what qualifies as Indian land? Voters may have thought that meant existing reservations, but those lands can be added to, even if the additions are miles from the original reservation. TheU.S. Department of the Interiorhas the authority to take newly purchased lands into trust for tribes. In such cases, the land is owned by the government but the tribe has sovereignty over it. That land also comes off the rolls of taxable property.

Under the 1988 federal law that allowed Indian gaming, construction of a casino off the original reservation can happen through a two-part process. First, the Interior Department must be willing to take the land in trust and determine that the casino is in the best interest of the tribe and not detrimental to the surrounding community; then the governor of the state must concur. TheGeorge W. Bushadministration set up tough rules for federal approval, including a requirement that the new land be within commuting distance of the reservation. The Obama administration, unfortunately, loosened the restrictions.

As a result, Native American leaders now have added incentive to seek out more conveniently located lands over which they can assert sovereignty. The two Northern California proposals are opposed by tribes with existing casinos on their reservations who see this as unfair competition. Their opposition is of course self-serving, and their operations should be as open to competition as any other business, but their warning that this could lead to "reservation shopping" is legitimate. If the success of their existing casinos is threatened by newer ones located closer to freeways or population centers, those tribes in turn have an incentive to seek more promising off-reservation locations, leapfrogging each other toward metropolitan areas.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) has introduced legislation to tighten the rules. S 771 would require tribes to have both a modern and a historic connection to land where they want to build casinos, and would clearly define those connections.

READ THE REST of the LA TIMES ARTICLE HERE

Holly Cook Macarro, Wife of Mark Macarro, Tribal Chair Who Violated Civil and Human Rights of His Tribe, Opines on VP Candidate Paul Ryan

Hi powered Washington DC lobbyist, Holly Cook Macarro, spouse of Pechanga Tribal Chairman Mark Macarro opines on VP Candidate Paul Ryan in a piece in Indian Country Today:

In all, Ryan’s vision could be a dangerous one for Indian country, said Holly Cook Macarro, former Democratic Party operative and a partner with IETAN CONSULTING, a tribal lobbying firm.

“The Ryan budget doesn’t distinguish funding for tribal programs from the entitlement programs he is aiming for—this approach ignores the federal trust responsibility and directly threatens the neediest in Indian country,” she said.  “It has the potential to bore a gaping hole in the Indian budget.”

We'd have more federal tax dollars coming in if her husband hadn't set up two families for disenrollment from Pechanga and stealing over $350 million in per capita and benefits.  A reminder to all that President Obama has stolen over 700 BILLION DOLLARS from Medicare.

Recall that Mark Macarro was brought up for a recall when the tribe found out his wife's firm got Pechanga's lobbying business to the tune of $250K or more.    Holly used to represent Holland & Knight.  The tribe wasn't told, according to CPP (Concerned Pechanga People) that chairman Macarro would benefit by giving business to his wife's new company.

Another reminder:  Andrew Masiel Sr. is ALSO a Demcratic Party Operative, the head of the Native American Caucus of the Democratic Party.    He bused in kids from Pechanga to vote AGAINST civil rights for native Americans.    Is that the way of the Democratic Party???

To All Tribal Nations: STAND UP Against Corrupt Tribes That are Destroying Native Americans From Within

Do Tribes that Practice Apartheid and Disenrollment Taint Other Tribes with The Civil Rights Abusing Brush?

We at Original Pechanga’s Blog (http://originalpechanga.com)  have been highlighting the despicable actions of tribes, primarily in California, that have harmed their own people, using sovereignty as club to beat the weak and helpless.  

• Apartheid and Segregation (Pechanga)
• Elder Abuse/Disrespecting our Ancestors (Enterprise, Pechanga, Pala, San Pasqual)
• Loss of Voting Rights (Chukchansi, Pechanga, Pala) Theft of Per Capita (Pala, Pechanga, Redding)
• Destruction of Heritage
• Disenrollment of large voting blocs against factual evidence that ties families to tribes (Redding)
• Banishment for exercising free speech
• Tribal Constitutional Violations by corrupt tribal Councils (Pechanga)

IS THIS WHAT YOU MEANT BY SELF RELIANCE?  

Sitting on the sidelines, with your heads in the sand while tribes abuse their own people gives tacit approval of their actions.    Why is it that only SOME tribes disenroll en masse?   Greed for power and money, of course.    But what makes other sovereign nations not stand up against the outrages perpetrated by tribes?  Is it because they are native?    Or is YOUR tribe afraid to make a stand?

Robert Smith said on a KCBS report that he didn’t have to show proof because Pala was a sovereign nation.   That’s an example of McCarthyite tactics.

Sheryl Lightfoot wrote in her column “Reconciling Moral Outrage with Self Determination”:

In order to be sovereign nations, we must act like sovereign nations. But that does not mean that in order to support self-determination in principle, we need to agree with every decision of other sovereign nations.

She offered some guidance on exercising your outrage: 

Another tactic which can be employed by other indigenous nations or the private citizens of other nations is the art of moral persuasion, or, ”moral suasion,” as it has also been termed.  This involves a campaign of exposure and embarrassment.    This tactic has most often been employed in international human rights campaigns, with the purpose being to expose the immoral government action in the media and open up international discussion in order to embarrass the target government into changing its policy to better conform to international norms. This was done in the early days of the campaign against apartheid in South Africa …

We have options available to us that allow us to register our moral protest at another state’s actions which will, at the same time, help us act more like the self-determining sovereign nations that we are

YOUR Tribe can stand up for those THOUSANDS of Native Americans that have been harmed by their tribe.   Come out against the policy of extermination used by Pechanga, Pala, Chukchansi.  

Turn your back on them at the next conferences, come out publicly in the press.

Don’t get tainted with the stink of corruption.

Chukchansi Destroys MORE Lives Adds 100 more to Disenrolled; BIA FAILS to Act

Mark Benjamin of the Fresno Bee continues to report on the despicable actions of the Chukchansi Indian of Coarsegold, who, for some reason think shrinking their tribe is a good thing. The Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians is disenrolling tribe members -- about 100, according to some within the tribe. Tribe officials announced last week that they were thinning the tribe's membership but declined to state the total. 

Enrollment in the tribe means a stake in the profits of its Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino near Coarsegold -- from a few hundred dollars to nearly $1,000 a month. Former tribal council member Dora Jones said Monday that disenrollment hearings were held in December, but final decisions were delayed because of a leadership upheaval. Jones, fellow incumbent Morris Reid and two other members of their tribal council slate beat incumbents favoring disenrollment in a tribal election last December, just before the disenrollment hearings.

 That election resulted in a power struggle between competing councils that came to a head with a near-riot near the casino in February. In council appointments after the confrontation, the tribal council has grown more heavily pro-disenrollment while members of Jones' group were removed. The group represented by Reid and Jones has filed an appeal with the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs in an attempt to return to power, but the government has taken no action.

 In a written statement last week, the tribal council said it is following a membership audit done 12 years ago, which it said shows that people were invited into the tribe in the 1980s even though they lacked Chukchansi qualifications. The federal government was paying tribes more if they had larger memberships. As casinos were built and profits rolled in, some tribes began to disenroll to increase tribal members' shares. "During the audit, the tribe discovered individuals that did not meet the criteria for membership," the tribal council's statement said. "Although some individuals were not valid members themselves, or even of Indian descent, they held high positions within the Tribe." It has been determined that these individuals then allowed for others to be enrolled and receive benefits, the tribe's statement said.

 A spokeswoman for the tribe said last week that tribal leaders won't discuss their decision. In previous interviews, Chukchansi officials said they will pay for DNA tests to ensure legitimate enrollment. One of the people recently disenrolled was notified last week by certified letter. "It's a dig at you," said James Herr Jr., "telling you that you're not good enough." Herr, a tribal elder, said he was getting about $950 a month from the tribe. "It was nice getting a little more, but we don't need it," he said. "Some of those people were living on a fixed income and it may be the difference between having the lights on or not."

 Tamara Punkin, whose father was on the tribal council that brought the casino to the Chukchansi rancheria, said her family's petition was not done properly, resulting in their disenrollment. She said she went from "Being Chukchansi to nothing now." Jones, the former tribal council member, said the council isn't finished. Next, she said, it's going to seek to exclude allotments, which define areas within the tribe's traditional lands. About one-third of the roughly 20 allotments could be carved out of the tribe's historic boundaries, leaving another 200 to 300 members at risk of disenrollment.

 One tribal member, an elder from an allotment in danger of being excluded, said he expects to be disenrolled soon.

 He would not give his name because he worries about retribution by the council and its enrollment committee, which determines tribe membership. "If your allotment is not in a particular area you are out of the tribe," the tribal elder said. "I am pretty sure we are going to get it next." The issue is not tribal integrity, but greed among a few families that want to share in the tribe's casino revenue, he said. "They can kick me out," he said, "but they can't take my heritage away from me. I know what I am."

 More disenrollment will follow if the federal government takes no action, said Kenneth Hansen, an associate professor of political science at Fresno State with expertise in American Indian issues. "I think it's only getting worse because the BIA has given the council a blank check to run their tribe into the ground if that's what they want," he said.

  READ and COMMENT HERE

Tribal Crimewatch: Sycuan Official Arrested for Assault with Deadly Weapon

An elected official with the Sycuan band of Indians was arrested last week in connection with an assault at an East County market, the Sheriff's Department reported. Arrest logs show that LaShunna M. Davidson, the tribe's treasurer, was taken into custody last Wednesday and booked into Las Colinas jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and burglary. Authorities said the arrest was linked to a July 28 incident at the Ranch Market, at Dehesa and Harbison Canyon roads.

Letter Requesting Congress Enforce The Commission of Authority Regarding Tribal Enactments

Here is a letter that can be copied and sent to your congress person.  It's asking congress to enforce the Commission of Authority.   Apparently the word is coming through that the Pechanga council is upset with all the letters being sent to Washington DC.   All the more reason to keep sending them in.   Thank you for your support.

Read more on the Masiel Basquez Crime Family

Honorable Congressperson

I’m asking you to enforce the Commission of Authority Regarding Tribal Enactments Section 18 Paragraph 3) States Tribal enactments disenrolling persons found not to meet the established enrollment criteria. The commissioner’s approval of such action shall be subject to appeal to the Secretary of the Interior.

 Paragraph 4) The commissioner shall forward to the secretary, with a recommendation, ordinance, resolution, or contracts which, in the opinion of the commissioner are: inconsistent with an act of congress or with a treaty or with tribal constitution or charter under which the ordinance, resolution or contract was adopted, enacted, or negotiated; or should be disapproved or rescinded for any other reason.

 Paragraph 5) Notwithstanding the provision of section 25 of this order, the Commissioner shall not redelegate the authority granted in this paragraph to any officer or employee who pursuant to a tribal constitution or charter passes upon ordinance, resolution, or contracts.

Now I have heard the B.I.A. excuse (1 that it is the bands inherit right to determine its own membership in accordance with its tribal laws. Now the band has determined our right not to be disenrolled by writing and voting in the tribal constitution and bylaws. It is the tribal enrollment committee and council that went against tribal law. (2 they pointed out the Santa Clara Pueblo vs. Martinez case and the Wheeler vs. United States Dept of the Interior. The Martinez case had to do when a male member marries a non member his children can be members but when a female members marries a non member her children cannot be members. They wanted to have the tribal constitution and bylaws change for sexual bias. Also they pointed out the Wheeler vs. United States Dept of Interior. This case had to do with election issues. We are not asking to change our tribe’s constitution or bylaws nor are we asking for election recount or runoff elections. We are asking to follow to the letter of what the Commissioner of Indian Affairs Delegation of Authority Regarding Tribal Enactments section 18. Is written for.

Recently, Jennie Miranda, Larry Miranda, Anthony Miranda, Andrew Miranda and Raymond Miranda have been disenfranchised from the Pechanga tribe for illegally buying and selling slot machines and possible money laundering.  In a criminal case of Ryan Robinson and James Riley for insurance scamming of Pechanga, employees perjured themselves on the stand and Pechanga board members would not testify.   They refused to testify because both Anthony or Jennie Miranda were PDC board members.   They were involved in this and had some part in this so the case was dismissed.


This is the same family that is behind the disenrollment. As I have ask you before to step in before a new criminal organization starts because of no checks and balances well it looks like it has started and you have refused to do anything.
Now it looks like we have the Indian mafia courtesy of sovereignty and congress refusal to step in. just how many of these gaming tribes have illegally disenrolled and committed criminal act behind sovereignty and congress refusal to step in.


This is a federal issue that affects all Native Americans no matter what state and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs Delegation of Authority Regarding Tribal Enactments section 18. Is federal statute that written for all Native Americans no matter what state. I want an answer on the B.I.A. responds to what they have pointed out and I have question that it does not apply for those very reasons. By enforcing the Commissioner of Indian Affairs Delegation of Authority Regarding Tribal Enactments section 18. It will let these corrupt tribal governments know that they are not above the law.

If the tribe refuses to commit to the ruling or even acknowledge section 18 then all federal funding, grants and benefits will be cut off until a conclusion can be met though aberration.

For more information please refer to http://originalpechanga.com  a blog chronicling the aforementioned activity.  You cannot allow tribes to use sovereignty as a club to beat the weak and helpless.

Pechanga Elder, Eloise Cornejo Passes

Sad news from the Hunter Family.  Eloise Cornejo, 79,  daughter of Johnny Miller and great grandaughter of Pauline Hunter has passed.

She suffered from kidney failure and is survived by five children.



Paulina Hunter, was allotted land on the Temecula Indian Reservaton in 1895.  She and her descendents were disenrolled from the Pechanga band by a corrupt tribal council, which includes Chairman Mark Macarro, and council members Andrew Masiel Sr. and Russell "Butch" Murphy.

Governor Brown DO NOT REWARD a Civil Rights Abusing Tribe with an OFF Reservation Casino

The Los Angeles Times Politcal Blog has a piece up on Jerry Brown's decision making on expanding Indian Casinos.    Our position is that Enterprise Rancheria, which violated the civil and human rights of their people DO NOT DESERVE a casino.

Gov. Jerry Brown must make a decision by the end of this month that could have wide-ranging implications for the future of tribal casinos in California.

Brown has until Aug. 31 to decide whether to let two state Indian tribes to open casinos miles from their current tribal land. If he approves the two projects, critics say, it could open the floodgates to additional casinos in more populated parts of the state.

The Enterprise Rancheria of Maidu Indians and the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians both received permission from the federal government earlier this year. But Brown has the power to reverse that decision under laws that govern Indian gaming.

The Enterprise Rancheria owns a remote parcel just east of the Northern California town of Oroville, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas. They want to open a casino along a state highway, about 50 miles from its tribal lands. The North Fork Tribe, which owns land near Yosemite National Park, wants to build a casino along California 99 near Madera, about 40 miles from its reservation.

The applications from both tribes have drawn heavy opposition from established tribal casino owners. The United Auburn Indian Community, which owns the Thunder Valley Casino located between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe, has led the charge against the proposal. The Chukchansi and Colusa tribes, who say their casinos would be threatened by the North Fork proposal, are lobbying the administration against that plan.

Governor, DO NOT reward tribes for abusing their people!

BIA: Many in your Tribe will DIE, before you are Recognized. Thank You Congress

Congresss passes a law to make it easier for tribes to attain recognition, then FAILS those tribes by not recognizing them?    And they make changes to recognition, so that other Natives can be excluded?  The Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians were recognized at the Temecula Band of Indians.  How is it they got to change their name and there are tribes still waiting in the process?

Years after the Chickahominy Indian Tribe of Virginia filed a petition for federal acknowledgment with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in 1996, the then-head of the agency told a group of tribal members that many of them wouldn’t live long enough to see their tribe officially recognized.

 At a hearing last month, Chickahominy Chief Stephen Adkins told the members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, “This proved to be prophetic of several of the tribal chiefs and other tribal members who attended that meeting in 1999 have been buried since then,” he said. The Chickahominy Tribe, which has been seeking federal acknowledgment for 16 years, is still waiting for a decision, but long waits are the rule, said tribal leaders and Indian law experts representing unrecognized tribes at the Oversight Hearing on Federal Recognition: Political and Legal Relationship between Governments. The hearing’s stated goal was “to examine the process of recognizing tribes through the Administrative and Congressional Processes.”

The panelists variously described the BIA’s Federal Acknowledgment Process (FAP) as broken, long, expensive, burdensome, intrusive, unfair, arbitrary and capricious, less than transparent, unpredictable, and subject to undue political influence and manipulation, and noted that Congress has done little to improve things.
 The administrative process established in 1978 “was intended to streamline federal recognition and make it consistent,” said committee chairman Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii). “Unfortunately, that process…has failed to accomplish that goal.… Congress has not recognized a tribe through legislation—can you imagine?—in over a decade!” (Congress recognized the Loyal Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma in 2000.)

 Congress’s apparent reluctance to recognize tribes is baffling in view of the fact that Congress itself passed the Federally Recognized Indian Tribes List Act of 1994, which established that tribes can be federally recognized by an act of Congress, a court ruling or the BIA.

  Read the rest of the article here

Why Democrats and Governor Jerry Brown DO NOT CARE about Tribes Violating Civil and Human Rights

It's the MONEY.    Surprised?  Anyone...?  Anyone?  

California Nations Indian Gaming Association has put a study out on the impact of Indian Gaming.

Tribal government gaming generates important benefits across California’s economy, according to a new study conducted by Beacon Economics, a leading independent economic research firm. The study, commissioned by the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA), surveyed gaming and non-gaming tribes across the state, including a cross section of large and small casinos in urban and rural markets with a range of amenities including hotels, restaurants, retail establishments and entertainment venues. The study finds that Indian gaming operations provide significant benefits throughout California’s economy. 

"California tribes made a promise to California voters: we promised we would provide for our people (OP:  The never said they would screw THOUSANDS of Indians in the process.) and land as governments, we would provide jobs for our people and our neighbors, we would be good neighbors sharing responsibility for services like fire and police and environmental protection, as well as supporting non-profits and public entities that contribute to the quality of life in our regions," said Daniel J. Tucker, Chairman of CNIGA. "This is our first report card, and I am proud of it. We have done well for our people, our neighbors, local and state governments and California taxpayers, as well as providing financial assistance for 71 other tribes to assist them in building a foundation for economic independence.”  OP: Some of these nations practice apartheid on their reservation.  See the right sidebar for a link to that issue.

 

"Our analysis shows that California tribal government gaming has a $7.5 billion annual impact and supports more than fifty-two thousand jobs for state residents," said Chris Thornberg, Founding Partner of Beacon Economics. "The benefits are broad-based and state-wide: including tribes and tribal members, non-tribal members, local economies and state and local government budgets. As today’s economy improves and discretionary spending rises, the magnitude of these effects can be expected to grow."   OP:  Tribes have stolen more than $500 MILLION from their own members and in some cases their own families.  Again, that story is on our sidebar.

 

Among the study’s key findings:

 

 Tribal gaming generates $7.5 billion for California’s Economy: In 2010 alone, $7.5 billion in economic activity was supported by Indian gaming operations. Of that amount, more than half ($3.9 billion) was generated outside of direct spending from the gaming operations. That means that businesses throughout California’s economy -- the vast majority of which are non-tribal -- are being buoyed by Tribal gaming.

 

 California tribal gaming creates more than fifty-two thousand jobs and $2.7 billion in income for Californians: The Beacon analysis concludes that tribal government gaming is an increasingly important pillar of job creation in California, supporting more than 52,000 good-paying jobs across the state and generating over $2.7 billion in income. The study estimates that upwards of 80% of casino employees are non-tribal members, and finds that many tribal gaming jobs are filled by lower-skilled workers, those hurt most by the economic downturn.

 

 Tribal gaming generates $467 million in revenues supporting essential local and state services: According to the study, tribal government gaming operations generate $467 million in state and local revenues, and non-gaming operations provide an additional $47 million in state and local revenues.

 

 Tribal government gaming has provided $818 million in critical support to non-gaming tribes: Revenue generated by tribal gaming provides essential support to non-gaming tribes, funding a range of services including education, health care, and housing. Non-gaming tribes receive up to $1.1 million annually from the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund. To date, the analysis shows that $818 million has been distributed to help reduce the reliance of non-gaming tribes on state and local governments.

 

 California gaming tribes foster safe and healthy communities, active philanthropic giving: Many California gaming tribes sponsor police and fire departments to relieve strained county officials and protect tribal and non-tribal community members, according to the report. Tribal gaming revenues also support local health and dental clinics for tribal and non-tribal residents in critical areas where these services are not readily available. The study also reports that gaming tribes often serve as the most important sources of philanthropic giving in their surrounding communities.a

Governor Jerry Brown Asked to STOP Illegal Casino. No Intergovernmental Agreement.

Stop the Casino 101 has the story of an ILLEGAL Casino being built. ILLEGAL means NOT LEGAL, unauthorized..

In a stunning admission to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, the City of Rohnert Park has admitted that the City has no intergovernmental agreement with the Federated Indian of Graton Rancheria (FIGR), a requirement for the gambling compact given to the FIGR.    

Rohnert Park city officials, when questioned by the Press Democrat's Jeremy Hay, said that "...discussion related to the new site will take place, but they haven't started yet."

Mr. Hay quotes City Manager Gabe Gonzalez as saying, "There will be some discussions...My understanding is that right now they're kind of busy getting their project up and running."

The gambling compact given to the FIGR by Governor Jerry Brown requires that an intergovernmental agreement between Rohnert Park and the FIGR be in effect before construction can commence. Construction in the form of grading began in mid-June.

The Governor stated that he had reviewed the City's agreement with the FIGR when he signed the compact, but clearly, no such agreement exists. The lack of a valid agreement means that the construction that is taking place upon the casino site is illegal.

The issue of the invalid MOU was raised in the Second Amended Complaint in Stop the Casino 101 Coalition v. Governor Jerry Brown that was filed July 31.  Attorney for the Plaintiffs Michael Healy sent a letter and a copy of the Press Democrat article to Deputy Attorney General Bill Williams today advising them of this admission by the City.

In his letter, Mr., Healy says, "The lack of an effective MOU between the City of Rohnert Park also means that the Compact is not yet in effect and that the current construction activity is illegal. Please advise at your earliest opportunity what steps your client intends to take to halt this illegal activity, so as to avoid the necessity of further law and motion practice.""

"We are calling upon the Governor's office to do what they are required to do, and shut down casino construction now, " said Pastor Chip Worthington, founder of Stop the Casino 101 Coalition (STC101), one of the Plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the state gambling compact passed in May. "No agreement means no compact means no casino."

"The City knew they had no agreement, the FIGR knew they had no agreement and the Governor's office knew there was no agreement, but they let the compact go forward anyway, and just hoped no one would notice," he said. "Well, we noticed."

"This is unconscionable behavior. The future of our community is at risk, and our government officials are acting like Las Vegas mobsters. From top to bottom, this is a betrayal of the voters' trust."

STC101 has already requested an injunction to stop casino construction in its Second Amended Complaint, but a date for the hearing has not yet been set.

Liberal Matt Lauer Uses Insulting Term on TODAY Show

Yes Matt, Indian Giver is a term that IS offensive.  Remember we wrote about KFI host Bill Handel commenting about ONE DRUNK INDIAN?
At lease we got an apology from the stations news director.

What is it about morning talk shows that people think they can let their guard down? And, why do they think American Indians are fair game?

The Native News Network has the story of the casual use of a hurtful term.

Matt Lauer During Olympic Coverage

Last November, Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian's mother, told ABC's "Good Morning America" she feels Kris Humphries has no right to ask for the $2 million 20.5 carat diamond ring back that he gave her daughter as an engagement ring. The marriage fell apart after only 72 days and she wanted the ring to stay in the family.

"I hate an Indian giver," she said told Good Morning America.  OP:  Well at least we know Kris Jenner is ill-mannered.   Remember she didn't even think of Kris's parents when she was ordering limos for the family?

Then yesterday morning, NBC's "TODAY" host Matt Lauer during coverage of the 2012 London Olympics told his ex co-anchor Meredith Vieira "don't be an Indian giver."

This ill-advised term came after Vieira passed a pair of designer underwear to Lauer.

"We're used to this. For five years, Meredith came to the show every morning carrying her underpants."
then Vieira asked Lauer for the underpants back.

"No, no, no, they're mine - don't be an Indian giver!" shot Lauer.

How old are these folks?

Who wants to hear about underwear on the TODAY show anyway? Save a Fruit of the Looms, Victoria's Secret, or Hanes factory or outlet store, talking about underpants would get most people in trouble in most places of employment across the United States.

It used to be morning network talk shows were informative and news worthy programs. Now, they are more like goofy chatter programs that can actually be quite annoying so early in the morning.

Beyond the inappropriate underpants talk, Lauer needs to be called out on the "Indian giver" term. He used it way too flippantly, as if it is part of what is acceptable.

American Indians find the term "Indian giver" highly offensive and insensitive. Given all that has been lost by our tribal nations through bloody wars; genocide perpetrated against our ancestors; Native children removal from homes to be put into boarding schools, it is intolerable that a highly paid, highly recognized figure such as Lauer would be so callous and disrespectful.

THINK before you speak.  Read more at the link above.

Rich Gaming Tribes Don't Want New Gaming Tribes

Don't get the idea that all Native Americans want to help others.  Gaming is a business and new gaming tribes mean competition.   This article is chiefly about the Enterprise Rancheria, looking for off-reservation gaming.   NOT ONCE in this article does it mention that Enterprise stripped it's members of citizenship for exercising their rights.

A pitted gravel road snakes through the forest to the Enterprise Rancheria of the Maidu Indians’ sole piece of tribal land about 15 miles east of here in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Broken trailers and a hot tub rejiggered to irrigate a garden sit in a clearing, the few acres of flat land where a handful of people live in houses in disrepair.  

To pull itself out of poverty, the tribe applied in 2002 to build an off-reservation casino at a spot with more economic potential, near towns and highways about 35 miles south of here. After the federal government gave its approval last year, the final decision now rests with Gov. Jerry Brown, who is expected to decide on the fate of the Enterprise casino and another tribe’s off-reservation proposal by an Aug. 31 deadline.

But plans for the two casinos are drawing fierce opposition and last-minute lobbying in the state capital from an unexpected source: nearby tribes with casinos that they say will be hurt by the newcomers. Leading the fight against Enterprise is the United Auburn Indian Community, whose casino, Thunder Valley, has become one of America’s most profitable and has brought the formerly destitute tribe unimaginable riches.

ENTERPRISE SHOULD NOT RECEIVE CASINO GAMING
Read the NYT STORY

Letter to New Candidate for Asst. Secretary Indian Affairs KEVIN WASHBURN on Individual Indian's Rights

Kevin Washburn
Candidate for Assistant Secretary- Indian Affairs
United States Department of the Interior
1849 C Street NW, Room 4160
Washington, DC 20240

(202) 208-5320 (fax)

Re: Internal tribal disputes and individual Indians’ rights
Dear Candidate Washburn

Congratulations on your selection by President Obama to become Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs. As you know, the Assistant Secretary of the Indian affairs plays in important role in Indian Country, and I felt it was important to ask you where you stand on several important and timely issues affecting Indian Country .

A recent report by the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) referenced the fact that internal tribal disputes “seem to be occurring more and more frequently”. Such disputes have resulted in the disenrollment, banishment, denial of membership, stripping of voting rights,and/or denial of health/medical benefits of thousands of Indians

In response to the growing number of these types of disputes, the GAO felt it was necessary and appropriate that nominees to the Secretary of Interior be asked how they would address such issues.

While the question posed in the GAO report asks about a nominee’s personal experience working with tribal leadership in trying to resolve or prevent such disputes, I believe it is also important to know how you have or would work with individual Indians in trying to resolve or prevent such disputes.

Therefore, I would like to know where you stand and what you believe your role as Secretary would be regarding (1) internal tribal disputes and (2) the protection and preservation of individual Indians’ basic rights in internal disputes.

In addition, do you believe that tribal sovereignty and the protection of basic individual rights are mutually exclusive of each other? Some tribes in California are using sovereignty as a club to beat the weak and helpless.

I eagerly await your response to the questions raised above.


Please send a fax to the number above.

Request to Gabriel Iglesias: Please CANCEL your Performance At Pechanga

Mr. Gabriel Iglesias

Creative Artist Agency
2000 Avenue of the Stars

Los Angeles, CA 90067

tel: 424-288-2000
fax: 424.288.2900

Dear Mr. Iglesias,

We are writing this letter in the hope that you will cancel your show at the Pechanga Resort and Casino, scheduled for October 6.

I’d like to make you aware of the disgraceful actions that are happening on the Pechanga Reservation.   The Pechanga Tribal Council, led by Mark Macarro, has stripped the citizenship 25% of Pechanga Tribal Members, including the descendents of the original chief of the Pechanga Tribe.  They most recently disenrolled the Paulina Hunter descendants.  Paulina Hunter was an original allotee of Pechanga and her family still resides on the reservation, where apartheid is still practiced, 18 years after it was abolished in South Africa.

I am sure that the decimation of culture, history and beliefs are not within your value system.

Stand with the disenrolled members of Pechanga.   There may be a protest during your performance date and we are informing the entertainment press about the request for acts not to perform at Pechanga.  We all enjoy your show and performances and would love to watch your show, elsewhere.    Please do not do your show at Pechanga.  Tell the PDC that you won’t play at a location that violates the civil and human rights of it own people

Thank you for your support.  Bill Cosby REFUSED to perform at Chukchansi if Fresno because of that tribe’s disenrollment action

I have included some information with this packette, but your team can check the website  Original Pechanga’s Blog   at http://originalpechanga.com

Respectfully,

USA USA USA! Women win Gold in Gymnastics

Congratulations to our women's gymnastics tem for blowing away the field and winning a gold medal.    Even on tape delay,loving the coverage.  What are your thoughts?